Month: March 2018

Those Little Fucking Photons

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Jack Whitten, Beloved Painter of Abstract Cosmologies, Dies at 78 -ARTnews

 

His “conceptual paintings” offered new possibilities for what abstraction could be.

 

“Ethereal and oftentimes mystical, Whitten’s paintings came out of inquiries into philosophical, scientific, and mathematical concepts. The chipped-paint technique in the “E Stamps” works, for example, often makes his work shine, and it sprang from reading up on the physical properties of light. “We know now that light occurs in extremely small particles,” he once told ARTnews. “That’s what allows us to see—those little fucking photons bouncing around your retina, and blam-o, I can see!””

Source: Jack Whitten, Beloved Painter of Abstract Cosmologies, Dies at 78 -ARTnews

Vito Acconci’s Library

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An interview with the late artist on the unique classification system he devised to organize his books

Vito Acconci, as one might expect, did not rely on any such traditional system for organizing his library. He instead arranged his books based on an idiosyncratic, all-encompassing classification system very much of his own devising. Acconci’s system begins with general ontological categories – such as ‘Time’, ‘Space’, ‘Matter’, ‘Body’, ‘Life,’ ‘Mind’ and ‘Signs’ (there are 12 such categories in all) – which then proceed to sub-divide into more particular divisions and sections. By giving primacy to the ontological over the bibliographic, Acconci’s system does away with many library classification conventions. For instance, fiction and poetry are not treated as related genres of writing and thus placed within range of each other. Instead, novels are placed in a subset of ‘Time’ (‘fiction is about turning pages, it’s about time,’ according to Acconci) while poetry is classified as a subset of ‘Body,’ along with books on dance, music and clothing – perhaps reflecting Acconci’s own early evolution from poet to performance artist. Art and architecture books are also not assumed to share a common heritage and therefore assigned proximate shelf space. Instead, architecture books belong to a subset of ‘Space,’ while art books are classified as a subset of ‘Matter.’

 

Source: Vito Acconci’s Library

Turing Patterns, Cellular Automata, Tilings and Op-Art

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Source: Greenfield.pdf

Gary R. Greenfield
Department of Mathematics & Computer Science University of Richmond

Abstract
I provide a brief survey documenting the inclusion of cellular automata, periodic tilings and op-art in mathematical art. Then I give an overview of the history of Turing-like patterns in mathematical art. I describe a cellular automaton for producing Turing-like patterns and introduce some new variations. This leads to an open problem concerning the convergence of such patterns.

Knitting Electronics With Yarn Batteries

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Source: Knitting Electronics With Yarn Batteries

 

When someone thinks about knitting, they usually don’t conjure up an image of sweaters and scarves made of yarn that can power watches and lights. But that’s just what one group is reporting in ACS Nano. They have developed a rechargeable yarn battery that is waterproof and flexible. It also can be cut into pieces and still work.

Most people are familiar with smartwatches, but for wearable electronics to progress, scientists will need to overcome the challenge of creating a device that is deformable, durable, versatile and wearable while still holding and maintaining a charge. One dimensional fiber or yarn has shown promise, since it is tiny, flexible and lightweight. Previous studies have had some success combining one-dimensional fibers with flexible Zn-MnO2 batteries, but many of these lose charge capacity and are not rechargeable. So, Chunyi Zhi and colleagues wanted to develop a rechargeable yarn zinc-ion battery that would maintain its charge capacity, while being waterproof and flexible.

The group twisted carbon nanotube fibers into a yarn, then coated one piece of yarn with zinc to form an anode, and another with magnesium oxide to form a cathode. These two pieces were then twisted like a double helix and coated with a polyacrylamide electrolyte and encased in silicone. Upon testing, the yarn zinc-ion battery was stable, had a high charge capacity and was rechargeable and waterproof. In addition, the material could be knitted and stretched. It also could be cut into several pieces, each of which could power a watch. In a proof-of-concept demonstration, eight pieces of the cut yarn battery were woven into a long piece that could power a belt containing 100 light emitting diodes (known as LEDs) and an electroluminescent panel.

Rothko Algorithm

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“The progression of a painter’s work, as it travels in time from point to point, will be toward clarity: toward the elimination of all obstacles the painter and the idea, and between the idea and the observer.”

The recipe of a work of art – its ingredients – how to make it -the formula.

 

  1. There must be a clear preoccupation with death – intimations of mortality…Tragic art, romantic art, etc., deals with the knowledge of death.
  2. Sensuality. Our basis of being concrete about the world. it is a lustful relationship to things that exist.
  3. Tension. Either conflict or curbed desire.
  4. Irony. This is a modern ingredient – the self-effacement and examination by which a man for instant can go on to something else.
  5. Wit and play…for the human element.
  6. The ephemeral and chance…for the human element.
  7. Hope.10% to make the tragic concept more endurable. I measure these ingredients very carefully when I paint a picture. It is always the form that follows these elements and the picture results from the proportions of these elements.”

 

Mark Rothko Art Center https://www.rothkocenter.com/en/about-rothko/statement-about-art

Smithsonite

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Smithsonite, or zinc spar, is zinc carbonate (ZnCO3), a mineral ore of zinc. Historically, smithsonite was identified with hemimorphite before it was realised that they were two distinct minerals. The two minerals are very similar in appearance and the term calamine has been used for both, leading to some confusion. The distinct mineral smithsonite was named in 1832 by François Sulpice Beudant in honor of English chemist and mineralogist James Smithson (c.1765–1829), whose bequest established the Smithsonian Institution and who first identified the mineral in 1802.

 

Smithsonite is a variably colored trigonal mineral which only rarely is found in well formed crystals. The typical habit is as earthy botryoidal masses. It has a Mohs hardness of 4.5 and a specific gravity of 4.4 to 4.5.

Smithsonite occurs as a secondary mineral in the weathering or oxidation zone of zinc-bearing ore deposits. It sometimes occurs as replacement bodies in carbonate rocks and as such may constitute zinc ore. It commonly occurs in association with hemimorphite, willemite, hydrozincite, cerussite, malachite, azurite, aurichalcite and anglesite. It forms two limited solid solution series, with substitution of manganese leading to rhodochrosite, and with iron, leading to siderite.[3]

 

 

 

Luminescence:

UV Type Main color Intensity Observation Frequency
Long Waves (365nm): Yellowish White
Short Waves (254 nm): Red
Other colors LW: White 
Other colors SW: Red , Violet red , Green , Blue , Violet 

 

 

Jonathan McCabe

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“Jonathan McCabe is a generative artist living in Canberra, Australia. He is particularly interested in theories of natural pattern formation and their application to computer art and design.

His main site on the internet is Flickr where he uploads the results of his experiments in computer art.”

 

Amazing use of Turing’s reaction-diffusion equations.

Lahaina Noon

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Lahaina Noon

Subsolar Point

The subsolar point on a planet is where its sun is perceived to be directly overhead (in zenith); that is where the sun’s rays are hitting the planet exactly perpendicular to its surface. It can also mean the point closest to the sun on an object in space, even though the sun might not be visible.

For planets with an orientation and rotation similar to the Earth’s, the subsolar point will move westward, circling the globe once a day, approximately moving along a circle of latitude. However, it will also move north and south between the tropics over the course of a year, so it is spiraling, like a helix.

You can modify this structure using our intuitive drag and drop interface, which allows you to rearrange content to your heart’s content.

 

“”La haina” means “cruel sun” in the Hawaiian language..”